The Cost of Modernity

We live in the land of instant gratification, 

where waiting feels like torture, 

where “no” feels like a rejection of self. 

We cling to things that empty us, 

swearing they make us whole. 

We swirl around each other; 

always moving, never touching. 

We settle, telling ourselves we wanted this all along. 

We judge those who don’t try, 

and those who try too hard. 

Our mirrors reflect a thousand things we’re told to be, 

but never our true selves. 

We want everything and love nothing.  

We live by newsfeeds,  

but we’re in the dark about everything outside our immediate space. 

We can’t hold space for things and people 

who do not fit inside our mold. 

We grow old, but pretend we don’t; 

forgetting generations of wisdom. 

The world is so much static and noise, 

we can’t hear our inner voice. 

Or maybe we don’t want to; 

we're afraid of what it might say.  

That it might say to follow a different path, 

or scream “Who are you to think you compare? 

To think you deserve to live in the world as you are?” 

We fear the noise but are more scared of the silence. 

In that silence, our heart whispers “this isn’t how it has to be”.